Santa Ana survey lists safety as top resident concern

Nov. 27, 2013

Updated 4:35 p.m.

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About 180 people attended a community forum on Santa Ana's strategic plan at the UA Plumbers Union 582. In all, about 280 people attended two community forums on Nov. 23, 2013 to review results of a Santa Ana community survey that will be used to help draft a five-year-strategic plan. Those who attended also provided feedback into how issues could be address. The second forum that day was held at Laborers Union 652. RON GONZALES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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A word cloud captures ways that Santa Ana residents identified their hopes for the city. It was developed as part of the city's stragegic plan process. RON GONZALES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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David Cavazos, Santa Ana's city manager, kicked off two discussions on a community survey conducted as the city prepares to develop a five-year strategic plan. About 280 people attended two community forums Nov. 23 to review results of a Santa Ana community survey that will be used to help draft a five-year-strategic plan. Those who attended also provided feedback on how issues could be addressed. RON GONZALES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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On green cards, participants in a workshop on Santa Ana's strategic plan suggested ways the city could take action. About 280 people attended two community forums Nov. 23 to review results of a Santa Ana community survey that will be used to help draft a five-year-strategic plan. RON GONZALES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Using blue cards, partipants in two workshops on Santa Ana's upcoming strategic plan suggested ways that they and community organizations could help resolve issues the city faces. RON GONZALES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Santa Ana City Manager David Cavazos addresses about 100 people who took part in a second workshop Nov. 23 to discuss Santa Ana's upcoming strategic plan. The second forum was held at Laborers Union 652. About 280 people attended two community forums Nov. 23 to review results of a Santa Ana community survey that will be used to help draft a five-year-strategic plan. RON GONZALES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

About 180 people attended a community forum on Santa Ana's strategic plan at the UA Plumbers Union 582. In all, about 280 people attended two community forums on Nov. 23, 2013 to review results of a Santa Ana community survey that will be used to help draft a five-year-strategic plan. Those who attended also provided feedback into how issues could be address. The second forum that day was held at Laborers Union 652. RON GONZALES, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

About the respondents

Language: Of 903 completed surveys, 769 were done in English, 99 in Spanish and 35 in Vietnamese.

Race/ethnicity: 61 percent of those who responded were Latino, compared to 78 percent Santa Ana residents listed by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Gender: 59.6 percent of respondents were female, and 40.4 percent were male.

Age: 19.8 percent of those who responded were 36-45, the largest of seven age groupings.

Source: Management Partners

Next steos

The survey and information from the community sessions will be posted on Santa Ana’s website.

A draft strategic plan will be prepared and posted on the city’s website for feedback.

The City Council will conduct a strategic planning workshop in February.

A strategic plan will go to the City Council in March for adoption.

Santa Ana's priorities

SANTA ANA - Santa Ana residents identified community safety, youth-related issues and the local economy as the three most important areas the city should focus on over the next five years.

Those findings are the result of an online community survey that was conducted in October and early November.

The survey’s findings are one of several elements that city leaders will take into consideration as they develop a strategic plan in the coming months.

It will take into account the input of three community forums – two of which were held on Saturday – a series of focus groups and discussions with City Hall staff and the City Council.

The results discussed Saturday came from 903 residents, business owners, students and people who work in the city.

“If you look at the city budget right now, it’s not 100 percent in sync with the community,” City Manager David Cavazos told the crowd at one of the sessions. “There are some things you have told us are important – job creation, youth and education, arts and culture. We need to make sure that the council and the management and the people of Santa Ana are together on our priorities and that our budget reflects that going forward.”

In addition to identifying priorities, the survey asked for other input, as well.

Top among the city’s strengths, respondents said, were its regional destinations - “mostly cultural kinds of opportunities,” said Amy Cohen Paul, corporate vice president of Management Partners, the city’s consultant on the strategic plan.

A large homeless population was identified as the leading limitation to be addressed.

Among the reported limitations, Paul said, “You can see economic development issues, residential crowding, even the lack of trust in government, so it’s nice to see the community come out and be able to talk to government officials and give your input directly.”

The leading opportunity was identified as enhancing the community image; the top threat was identified as lack of funding for needed services.

“This is the most comprehensive community involvement I’ve ever been involved with,” said Cavazos in an interview. “We want to make sure that whatever we do at the end reflects the priorities and input from this community.”

The five-year strategic plan is mandated by the city’s Sunshine Ordinance, adopted last year as a way of increasing openness at City Hall as well as gathering the input of residents in community issues.

At the two forums in different parts of the city on Saturday, Nov. 23, participants were asked to identify areas where the city should take action, as well as areas where residents and community organizations could contribute. In all, about 280 people took part.

Within each category, such as community safety, were a number of areas. In community safety, for example, addressing gang-related issues was identified as “most important” by 68 percent of respondents in that area, followed by increasing police presence through community-based policing, with 66 percent.

“There’s too many gangs in Santa Ana,” said Jonathan Garcia, 17, a senior at Valley High School. “I think that if the city opens recreation centers for youth, that will reduce the rate of gangs.”

Many youth, he said, fail to receive enough guidance from their parents. “They need somewhere to go when their parents aren’t listening to them,” he said.

Dalia Hernandez, 24, an educator at KidWorks, focused on transportation and youth in her feedback to city officials.

The city, she said, should provide bicycle lanes and paths, as well as provide more internships for youth.

“Something that we can do is we can increase ridership and awareness that you can ride a bike, and purchase a bike, and fix your bike,” she said. “That’s important for health reasons, circulation, your overall well-being. Rather than going in a car all the time. You can use your body and move from one place to another just by riding your bike.”

Volunteers from such groups as Santa Ana Collaborative for Responsible Development (SACReD), the Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) and the Orange County Congregation Community Organization (OCCCO) helped facilitate the forums.

Some of those who took part in the workshops were satisfied with the level of citizen participation in the process, others said they wished that more had become engaged. Some were surprised by portions of the findings, others were not.

“I feel like we’re on the right track, how the community is being engaged,” said Abraham Medina, 25, of the community group Santa Ana Boys and Men of Color. “So now it’s about seeing what does community policing look like, what does safety look like, what do the youth want.”

“I did not think safety would come out on top,” said resident Steve McGuigan. “Given the nature of some of the discussions you have at the City Council, I expected arts and youth to be the top priorities because those are the people who have been participating the most publicly lately.”

Peter Katz, president of the Mar-Les Neighborhood Association, said he thought jobs and housing should be top priorities.

“If people have no place to live and have no job, they’re living on the street, they’re living 20 people in a room,” he said.

Jose Rea, president of the Madison Park Neighborhood Association, said he sees the need for open space and joint-use of facilities with Santa Ana Unified as top priorities.

He said he also sees a need for improvement and training in city and community relations, including the police department.

“When we often deal with city staff, they’re not very customer-service friendly,” he said. “So some basic training on how to take care of customers in an adequate way would help. That would go to the PD, too. The PD treats our youth and immigrant population as criminals at first point of contact. That’s a huge issue. …Our community mistrusts the police.”

But he said he was pleased with citizen participation in the process.

“Santa Ana is learning that the way to change things is to increase participation and to get involved.”

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